diff --git a/NatlinkSource/DragonCode.cpp b/NatlinkSource/DragonCode.cpp
index 90827fb..a06feeb 100644
--- a/NatlinkSource/DragonCode.cpp
+++ b/NatlinkSource/DragonCode.cpp
@@ -2003,40 +2003,19 @@ BOOL CDragonCode::playString( const char * pszKeys, DWORD dwFlags )
 
 //	OutputDebugStringA("ignoring input, just sending out `naïve'");
 
-	int const inputCodePage = CP_UTF8;
-	int const outputCodePage = 1252;
-
-
-	//get a wide unicode string from the unicode string.  Be better to change pytwrap to just give us
-	//unicode strings.
-	int size_needed = 10+ ::MultiByteToWideChar( inputCodePage, 0, pszKeys, -1, NULL, 0 );
-	BSTR pszKeysW = new TCHAR[ size_needed ];
-	memset(pszKeysW,0,(sizeof pszKeysW[0]*size_needed));
-
-	std::unique_ptr<TCHAR> pdzKesWMem(pszKeysW);   
-
-	::MultiByteToWideChar( inputCodePage, MB_PRECOMPOSED, pszKeys, -1, pszKeysW, size_needed );
-
-	//now convert to to single byte code page for windows
-	int mbSizeNeeded = 10+WideCharToMultiByte(outputCodePage,0,pszKeysW,-1,0,0,0,0);
-	char * mbString = new char[mbSizeNeeded];
-	memset(mbString,0,sizeof mbString[0]*mbSizeNeeded);
-	std::unique_ptr<char> mbPtr(mbString);  
-	WideCharToMultiByte(outputCodePage,0,pszKeysW,-1,mbString,mbSizeNeeded,0,0);
-
-	std::string msg1("Windows String: ");
-	msg1.append(mbString);
-	OutputDebugStringA(msg1.c_str());
-
-	// use the interface that takes char strings, not wide strings.
-
 	rc = m_pIDgnSSvcOutputEventA->PlayString(
-		mbString,	// string to send
+		pszKeys,	// string to send
 		dwFlags,		// flags
 		0xFFFFFFFF,		// delay (-1 for app specific delay)
 		dwClientCode,	// to identify which WM_PLAYBACK is ours
 		&dwNumUndo );
 
+	int const inputCodePage = CP_UTF8;
+	int const outputCodePage = 1252;
+
+
+
+
 	#else
 		rc = m_pIDgnSSvcOutputEvent->PlayString(
 			pszKeys, 	  // string to send
diff --git a/NatlinkSource/__init__.py b/NatlinkSource/__init__.py
index 53cf690..fa5f5f1 100644
--- a/NatlinkSource/__init__.py
+++ b/NatlinkSource/__init__.py
@@ -10,18 +10,12 @@ def lmap(fn,iter):
     return list(map(fn,iter))
 
 def playString(a):
-    print(f"wrapped playString {a}")
-    _playString(a)
-    print("returned from playString")
+    return _playString(toWindowsEncoding(a))
 
 def execScript(script,args=[]):
     #only encode the script.  can't find a single case of anyone using the args 
-
     script_w=toWindowsEncoding(script)
-
-    print(f"Exec Scripts {script}  args {args} windows encodings script {script_w} ")
-    _execScript(script_w,args)    
-    print(f"returned from exec ")
+    return _execScript(script_w,args)    
 
 def toWindowsEncoding(str_to_encode):
     return str_to_encode.encode('Windows-1252')
diff --git a/NatlinkSource/pythwrap.cpp b/NatlinkSource/pythwrap.cpp
index 68f2fa0..57178e4 100644
--- a/NatlinkSource/pythwrap.cpp
+++ b/NatlinkSource/pythwrap.cpp
@@ -382,9 +382,10 @@ natlink_waitForSpeech( PyObject *self, PyObject *args )
 extern "C" static PyObject *
 natlink_playString( PyObject *self, PyObject *args )
 {
-	char *pKeys;
+	char *pKeys=0;
+	int pkeysLen=0;
 	DWORD dwFlags = 0;
-	if( !PyArg_ParseTuple( args, "s|i:playString", &pKeys, &dwFlags ) )
+	if( !PyArg_ParseTuple( args, "s#|i:playString", &pKeys, &pkeysLen, &dwFlags ) )
 	{
 		return NULL;
 	}
diff --git a/NatlinkSource/samples_for_interactive_debugging/displayText.py b/NatlinkSource/samples_for_interactive_debugging/displayText.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b1b614e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/NatlinkSource/samples_for_interactive_debugging/displayText.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import natlink as n
+
+n.natConnect()
+dis=n.natDisconnect
+def bye():
+    n.natDisconnect()
+    quit()
+
+d=n.displayText
+  
+d("naïve brachialis",True,True)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/NatlinkSource/samples_for_interactive_debugging/execScript.py b/NatlinkSource/samples_for_interactive_debugging/execScript.py
index 9a2548c..1a9f8a9 100644
--- a/NatlinkSource/samples_for_interactive_debugging/execScript.py
+++ b/NatlinkSource/samples_for_interactive_debugging/execScript.py
@@ -7,5 +7,4 @@ def bye():
     quit()
 
 e=n.execScript
-  
 e('SendKeys "naïve brachialis"')
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/NatlinkSource/samples_for_interactive_debugging/playString.py b/NatlinkSource/samples_for_interactive_debugging/playString.py
index d22513f..ec4d96d 100644
--- a/NatlinkSource/samples_for_interactive_debugging/playString.py
+++ b/NatlinkSource/samples_for_interactive_debugging/playString.py
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 import natlink as n
 n.natConnect()
-dis=n.natDisconnect 
+dis=n.natDisconnect
+def bye():
+    n.natDisconnect()
+    quit()
 p=n.playString
+
 n.playString("naïve brachialis")
\ No newline at end of file